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An affiliate of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, known as Njiko Igbo Forum, has taken a stand, claiming that the Federal Government of Nigeria is still waging a war against the Igbo people in the country.

The President of the Forum, Rev Okechukwu Obioha, made this declaration in a statement released to Media Talk Africa on Thursday night.

According to Obioha, the people of the South-East region remain unconvinced by the palliative measures implemented by the Federal Government to ease the impact of the removal of petrol subsidy.

Obioha, who also serves as the Convener/Chairman of the South-East Equity Group (SEEP), asserted that the insensitive and discriminatory policies perpetuated by successive administrations continue to grossly undermine the well-being and dignity of the Igbo people in the country.

Against this backdrop, he pointed out that even years after the civil war, the people of the South-East still experience treatment as if they were a conquered nation.

Obioha drew attention to the abandonment of the Eastern rail corridor as concrete evidence that the federal government does not prioritize the integration of the Igbo into its development plans.

“Equity, justice, and fairness have been conspicuously absent. No amount of so-called palliative measures extended to the people of the South-East zone can sufficiently assuage or compensate them, as long as the Eastern Corridors of the Railways remain recklessly abandoned,” Obioha asserted.

He continued, “From the days of the Obasanjo administration’s Sure-P program to the current Buhari-led government, other rail lines, and brand new ones, such as the Katsina to Niger line (which connects to another country), have been constructed and made operational. However, the Eastern Corridors running from Port-Harcourt to Enugu and then Makurdi – Maiduguri remain neglected.”

The Ohanaeze chieftain further noted that the situation escalated to outright insult when the federal government removed the rails and sleepers along these corridors, leaving no sign or trace of the former rail line, only overgrown grasses and trees.

“How else can this be explained except that the Federal Government, through this obnoxious brazen dichotomy, is still at war with the Igbo of the South-East?” Obioha queried.

He concluded, “As far as the average Igbo is concerned, the struggle to survive continues incessantly. To the Vanquished Nigeria Igbo, there is no such thing as palliative, only to the Nigeria Victor.”

The timing of Obioha’s claim coincides with protests from the people of the South-East demanding fair representation in ministerial slots allocated by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.

While the North-East secures 10 ministerial slots and the South-West receives 9 slots, the South-East trails behind with its allocated five slots.

However, the list of portfolios unveiled by the Tinubu presidency reveals that the zone comprises four main ministers and one junior minister.

The individuals appointed are as follows: Doris Anite – Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Uche Nnaji – Minister of Innovation Science and Technology, Nkiruka Onyejeocha – Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Uju Kennedy – Minister of Women Affairs, and David Umahi – Minister of Works.